Thu, 23 Jun 2016 12:08:30 -0700WeeblyMon, 11 Jul 2011 15:02:55 GMThttp://beatricebrusic.weebly.com/rest-in-peace-raymond/rest-in-peace-raymondBy now everyone knows the tragedy of the Medford Killings. What they don't know is what a wonderful person Raymond Ferguson really was. I met him for the first and only time at his wedding, ten years ago. A beautiful, happy occasion, if ever I saw one. Raymond and his bride made a very good looking couple and everything indicated then that they would go on to have a great life, and they did, but it was cut short by the brutality of a monster. Raymond was on the verge of a new life. He had worked hard all his life and he was looking forward to a gentler life, closer to his aging parents in Florida. I knew him intimately through his mother, my best friend, who was filled with pride at his accomplishments. Raymond was a great pharmacist, a great son, and a great husband. The dream of his life was to have a child and so far that dream had been denied but he was still young, vital, and children may have been in his future. Raymond was kind and generous to a fault, a loyal person who never forgot a birthday or his parents, that's why his mother was surprised when he hadn't called that fateful "father's day." It simply wasn't like Raymond to miss such an important occasion. This was a man who sent his parents on cruises to celebrate their anniversary, this was a man who knew the real meaning of love and responsibility. He was an only son but his mother never spoiled him, she didn't believe in it, and she gave him a sense of duty and honor since he was a child. Raymond lived his life with intensity, he loved cruises and took many of them. His mother, who has been a tower of strength since this tragedy, is taking comfort from that and from her unflinching faith in the Lord. But it's one of those bitter ironies of life that this gentle, peaceful man, who never hurt anyone in his life, should end up being cut down in the prime of his life by a monster. Raymond was an achiever, a giver, a person who contributed and made this world a better place, and yet he lost his life to a loser, a drug addict, a person who was filled with self hatred and violence. I don't have his mother's strength and I have a hard time reconciling myself to that. That's why I wrote this blog, to express these sentiments and to honor his memory. I shall remember you, Raymond. I shall remember your beautiful smile, your lust for life, your strong, strapping figure. Rest in peace, dear friend, though your time on earth was brief, you left a wonderful legacy. ]]>Mon, 11 Jul 2011 13:50:39 GMThttp://beatricebrusic.weebly.com/rest-in-peace-raymond/first-post